Cottage food laws in Florida

The limits

Sales cap

$250,000 gross annual sales

You can sell

Breads, rolls, biscuits, cakes, pastries, cookies; candies, confections, honey; jams, jellies, preserves, fruit pies, dried fruits; dry herbs, seasonings, mixtures, pasta; cereals, trail mixes, granola, nuts; vinegar; popcorn (broadly, non-time/temperature-control-for-safety foods)

You cannot sell

Foods requiring refrigeration/time-temperature control for safety, and foods requiring acidification or pressure canning (which require a commercial kitchen, inspection, and licensing instead)

Getting set up

Permit / registration

No — cottage food operations are exempt from FDACS permitting, licensing, and routine state inspection as long as they comply with Fla. Stat. § 500.80 and stay within the sales cap; there is no state registration requirement

Cost

None

Training

No state-mandated food handler card or food safety certification

Kitchen inspection

Only on complaint — FDACS may inspect the premises only upon receipt of a complaint to verify compliance; refusal to permit such an inspection is grounds for disciplinary action

Labeling

Operation name and address, product name, ingredients listed by weight, net weight/volume, allergen disclosures, nutrition information if a nutrition/health claim is made, and the statement (minimum 10-point type, in a color providing clear contrast): "Made in a cottage food operation that is not subject to Florida's food safety regulations."

Where you can sell

Permitted venues

Direct delivery to consumers or sale at a specific event venue; a cottage food operation may only sell products it stores on its own premises; wholesale sales (to restaurants/stores for resale) are prohibited

Online sales

Yes — a cottage food operation may sell, offer for sale, and accept payment for products over the internet or by mail order

Delivery in state

Yes — personal delivery, USPS, or commercial carrier

Shipping out of state

Not confirmedUnverified — confirm with FDACS. Fla. Stat. § 500.80 authorizes cottage food operations to sell over the internet or by mail order and to deliver "in person directly to the consumer, to a specific event venue, or by United States Postal Service or commercial mail delivery service," but this language does not specifically address whether the consumer or delivery destination must be within Florida. Because the statute does not affirmatively address out-of-state sales one way or the other, this should be treated as silent rather than permissive — and federal FDA rules independently constrain interstate shipment of cottage food regardless of state law.

The fine print

Statute

Fla. Stat. § 500.80; sales cap raised from $50,000 to $250,000 by the "Home Sweet Home Act" (2021, effective July 1, 2021); statute most recently amended by s. 89, ch. 2025-22

Recent changes

Most recent statutory amendment: s. 89, ch. 2025-22 (2025 legislative session) — specific substantive content of this amendment was not itemized in the source reviewed; confirm details with FDACS or the Florida Legislature's statute history.

Notes

Florida's $250,000 cap is the highest of any state reviewed in this batch and is paired with no permitting, no training mandate, and complaint-driven inspection only — among the most permissive programs nationally. No MEHKO-style program was identified for Florida; cottage food items may not be sold from mobile food establishments.